Firefighters train on electric vehicle extractions

In the unlikely case that something damages the bottom of the vehicle however, suddenly there is a time limit on getting a person out of the vehicle. Rusk advises that if you’re passing an accident scene and you see white smoke coming out of an EV, keep your distance.

“If an EV vehicle battery was damaged in the accident, the energy inside them can go into what they call ‘thermal runaway’. So when one cell is damaged, it starts to heat itself and create a fire, and then that heat starts to transfer to all the different cells in the back screen.”

If an EV battery gets heated, Rusk said there’s more to it than just an explosion risk.

“The chemicals that come off that are deadly to us. They can also be explosive, and then the heat that’s generated obviously is really bad for people that are inside. So we need to have a bit of a strategy to try and stop that thermal runaway or slow it down.”

Aside from that, most EVs are similar enough to a regular combustion engine vehicle that firefighters don’t have to change their methods much.

The exception is with Teslas, as they do not have a physical handle to open the door and rely entirely on an electronically-powered latch to secure the door. As a result, Teslas require firefighters to take a different approach if someone gets stuck in one.

“They have manual releases as well. So everybody that owns a Tesla should make sure that they do know where a manual door release is. If the power is disconnected, they still need to be able to get out of their vehicle.”

The vehicles and EV batteries the PAFD were practicing on were provided by SGI. So far, the PAFD has not had to extract anyone from a fully electric vehicle yet, but they have had plenty of hybrid vehicle extractions that provide similar challenges.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Firefighters train on electric vehicle extractions

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